The Story Bible from Concordia

In the last review we saw how My Bedtime Story Bible by Zonderkidz can be enjoyed one on one with children, helping them to connect with God’s people by establishing nightly routines of ending each day with a Bible story and a prayer. On the other hand, The Story Bible from Concordia makes an excellent option for small churches and children’s Bible classes where monies, teaching supplies, and experienced Bible teachers are most likely to be limited.

In this hefty edition, The Story Bible provides “130 Stories of God’s Love” to help children come to know, as stated in the opening pages, “The love of Jesus, our Savior. The Bible is all about Jesus and you. This Story Bible will show you how and why this is true.”

On each slick page, the beautifully detailed illustrations draw children into the text with colorful, realistic art, except, perhaps, for the consistently light-skinned people seldom found in the Middle East or Africa where most Bible stories occurred.

Despite that lament, a parent, teacher, or other caretaker can hold the book, point to pictures that illustrate the story being read, and utilize the sidebars with vocabulary words from the text along with questions and activities to Ask, Do, and Pray.

For example, “The Birth of Isaac” asks a follow-up question on “How old was Abraham when his son was born?” with a “Do” suggestion to “Count to 100. Did it take a long time? Abraham had to wait a long time for a son.” This effective format consistently helps children to connect with the information included in each story before ending with a pertinent prayer.

For another example, the story of “The Passion of Christ” as found in Matthew 27, includes vocabulary words such as “passion,” “innocent,” and “crucified” in the outer margin of the page, allowing parents or teachers to discern what their children are ready for and when. For those being introduced to Christ’s sacrifice, the prayer included says: “Dear Jesus, I am sad when I see pictures that show how people are mean to You. Thank You, Jesus, for suffering and dying on the cross to take away my sins and give me a home in heaven. Amen.”

After closing the stories with “John’s Vision of Heaven” as shown in Revelation 21 and 22, the book ends on this life-giving word from John 20:31: “These stories are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” So be it! Amen.

© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, reviewer

The Story Bible, hardcover




…